Audio 3:20
China-Japan relations increasingly strained

Mark WillacyUpdated
Mon 28 Oct 2013, 8:30 AM AEDT

The rhetoric between Asia's two superpowers is growing ever more belligerent, with China warning over the weekend that if Japan carries out a threat to shoot down foreign drones encroaching on its territory, it would be an act of war. Japan's leader Shinzo Abe has issued his own warning, saying Tokyo is prepared to be more assertive towards Beijing.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: The rhetoric between Asia's two superpowers is growing ever more belligerent, with China warning over the weekend that if Japan carries out a threat to shoot down foreign drones encroaching on its territory, it would be seen as an act of war.

Japan's leader Shinzo Abe has in turn warned China not to use force to try to change the regional balance of power.

At the weekend, Japan twice scrambled fighter jets to monitor Chinese military aircraft flying near the Okinawan islands.

North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy reports from Tokyo.

(Sound of trumpets)

MARK WILLACY: There were imposing steel columns of tanks and perfectly choreographed companies of goose-stepping soldiers.

It looked a lot like the military parades seen in that other north Asian capital, Pyongyang.

Standing proudly on the viewing platform, watching this stirring spectacle of Japan's military might, was the prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Then came time to rally the troops.

(Sound of Shinzo Abe speaking in Japanese)

"Post World War II, we have prospered and moved forward as a peaceful nation. This is something for us to be very proud of", Mr Abe told his self defence forces. "However, in order for us to continue protecting this peace into the future, we must be vigilant", he says.

And this vigilance is particularly directed towards China, which is locked in a dispute with Japan over a handful of rocky outcrops in the East China Sea.

Controlled by Tokyo, and known in Japan as the Senkakus and in China as the Diaoyu Islands, they are home to nothing more than a few inbred goats. But whoever controls these outcrops controls the vast maritime territory that surrounds them - a seabed said to be rich in rare earth minerals and some known oil reserves.

Beijing regularly buzzes the skies around the islands with aircraft, while its ships sail close by too.

It's even understood China has flown unmanned drones near the islands, a move that's infuriated Tokyo.

The Japanese government was then said to be drafting plans to shoot down any drone that encroaches on its airspace - a threat that sparked this testy response from Beijing over the weekend.

(Sound of Geng Yansheng speaking in Japanese)

"We advise relevant parties not to underestimate the Chinese army's resolute will and determination to protect China's territorial sovereignty" says defence ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng. "If Japan does what it says and resorts to enforcement measures like shooting down aircraft, that is a serious provocation to us, it is an act of war. We will surely undertake decisive action to strike back", he says.

And over the weekend, Japan twice scrambled fighter jets to monitor Chinese military aircraft flying near Okinawa.

At the same time the prime minister Shinzo Abe told the Wall Street Journal he's concerned that Beijing is trying to change the status quo in North Asia by force, and he warns that if China opts to take that path, it will not be able to emerge peacefully.

For Asia's two biggest economies and military superpowers, the talk is becoming very dangerous indeed.